“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Albert Camus

Saturday, 20 September 2014

The Spinoza Problem by Irvin D. Yalom

This is my
third Irvin Yalom’s novel and I liked it. Well, to be honest, it is not so good
as When Nietzsche Weptand better than Lying on the Couch. But it is good. Let’s see.

Yalom compares two really different men – Spinoza and Alfred Rosenbergthrough whole story
line. His characters are deep and so distant from each other yet really close.
Spinoza – a Jew whose thoughts and words made his life in Jewish community
really difficult and Rosenberg whose thoughts and words made lives of all Jews
difficult. Rosenberg is amazed by the power Spinoza – “that Jew”-had on minds
of the greatest German philosophers.

The concept of “The Spinoza problem” meant a great
impact of Spinoza’s words on other people which can’t be understandable
logically. Firstly his community eliminated him and then Rosenberg tried to
eliminate Spinoza’s impact with all possible actions (like stealing his library).
But Rosenberg’s behavior had another reason for specific interest in Spinoza’s
works. He wanted to understand him but it was impossible with average mind. He
tried to find the source of his wisdom but it was impossible because there was
no real source – Spinoza expressed his own thoughts.

It is sarcastically funny how, from author’s
perspective, the Jews thought of themselves as special people and Nazis did the
same many years later. The problem is that people don’t want to understand that
they are average. That we all the same. And only our abilities to work hard on
what we can do the best can make us someone bigger than average.

This is a story of two different men whose lives intersect.
Two different men who had really different lives but deserved endings. And all
of this with a bit of psychological insight.